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Serum
1. Any clear, watery fluid that has been separated from its more solid parts. For example, when a blister pops, the clear liquid that comes out is known as serum.

2. The clear, thin, and sticky fluid part of the blood that remains after the blood has changed from a liquid into a solid form. It is also known as blood serum. Serum does not contain blood cells, platelets (cells that help change the blood from a liquid to solid form), or fibrinogen (a protein in the blood). The part of blood that contains these and many other types of cells is known as plasma. Plasma is the fluid component of the circulating blood that is watery and straw-colored. This is the difference between serum and plasma.

3. A clear, watery fluid that wets the surface of thin sheets of tissue (known as serous membranes) that cover certain openings of the body, such as those in the chest. A clear watery fluid that oozes out of these tissues is also known as serum.

4. Medications created from the serum (clear, watery fluid) of a person that has greater than normal protection against a certain poison or infection. These medications work to produce proteins in the body known as antibodies, which lead to such protection. In this sense of the word, serum is sometimes referred to as antiserum or antitoxin.

The plural from of serum is serums or sera. Something that relates to serum is known as serous. Serum is Latin for whey, which is the watery part of milk.

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